The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes

The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, an introduction to Wisdom Literature, by Derek Kidner ★★★★
Derek Kidner is one of the great Hebrew scholars of the late 20th century and has written a number of commentaries on Psalms, Proverbs, and wisdom literature. This book provides a summary of information. It is organized by a chapter discussing the themes of a respective book, followed by a chapter of discussion of the current textual criticisms of the book. In the end, a summary chapter of the global impact and value of these three books is discussed. There are three appendices, the first discussing the existent knowledge of contemporary wisdom literature of the mid-east, the second discussing Ecclesiasticus, and the third the Wisdom of Solomon. The book is solid conservative scholarship, though mildly dense to read, and more encyclopedic than devotional. This is a good read, but not the first book I’d pick up on the subject.